Another Lesser Yellowlegs (Chevalier à pattes jaunes)

Quick note today to report on the first Nearctic vagrant of the season: a Lesser Yellowlegs, seen yesterday at the Yenne-Todé lagoon.

After a very productive few days at Guereo, Bandia, and Popenguine – more on this later – I made my way back to Dakar via Yenne, the first village on the north end of the Petite Cote. I’ve known for a while that there’s a good lagoon here, but never visited at the right time of the year. A few weeks ago, Miguel had a great morning at the site (105 species including Dwarf Bittern, Spur-winged Goose, lots of Garganey), which prompted me to go see what’s about at the moment… Expectations were high, and I wasn’t disappointed: hundreds of ducks, many herons, a few gulls and quite a few terns, and most of all an incredible diversity of waders: 26 species!! Almost all regular migrant waders plus several of the local species were noted, some of which in decent numbers (e.g. nearly 30 Marsh Sandpipers, a few hundred Little Stints and Common Ringed Plovers, +120 Ruff). The site, which apparently is called the Niayetir lagoon, is easily accessible from different sides, mainly along the road coming from Toubab Dialaw but also from the village itself.

After I visited the main wetland just north of the road to Yenne, I stopped at the lagoon just behind the village, along the road back to Bargny. While scanning the numerous waders, I noticed a medium-sized wader with bright yellow legs: Yellowlegs!! It was actively feeding amidst the other waders, close enough to get good views through the telescope, but just a bit too far for decent photos…

Lesser Yellowlegs / Chevalier à pattes jaunes

Its flashy yellow legs made it stand out against all other waders here (bird names don’t need to be complicated!). Identification as Lesser Yellowlegs was pretty straightforward thanks to its relatively fine bill about equal to the length of the head, as well as overall structure. The straight all-dark bill of medium length and fairly uniform brown-grey breast and upperparts, as well as the smaller size and more slender appearance, distinguish it from the much rarer Greater Yellowlegs (which has never been recorded in Senegal). Moreover, the size of this bird was roughly the same as Marsh Sandpiper with which it was seen side by side, just slightly bulkier and with a marginally heavier bill. The Marsh Sandpiper is just about visible on the picture below:

A long-distant migrant, Lesser Yellowlegs mainly breeds throughout Canada and Alaska, and winters in a variety of wetland habitats from coastal areas of the US all the way down to the southernmost tip of South America (Tierra del Fuego). It is a rare vagrant to West Africa, with only six previous records in Senegal that I’m aware of, all of single birds between August and March:

As such, it’s the second most frequently noted American wader in Senegal together with Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Only American Golden Plover has been seen more often, with 10 records so far; and if last winter’s trend continues then Buff-breasted Sandpiper will soon overtake Tringa flavipes (no less than four records of six birds were obtained between mid-November 2016 and early January 2017!)

Elsewhere in Africa, Lesser Yellowlegs has mostly been noted on the Cape Verde islands, and there are a handful of records from Mauritania (22/3/04 and 6/2/14), The Gambia (January 1976, 13/10/08; possibly others), Ghana (at least two, incl. on 16/10/08), and Nigeria (Feb.-March 1969). Further north it’s been reported from the Canary Islands, Madeira, Morocco, and Tunisia. There are also a few records from South Africa (including one on Tristan da Cunha island in the South Atlantic), Namibia, and even Botswana.

I’ll try to go back over the weekend and see if it’s still around – and why not find another Yank this time!

Header photos

The defunct, twin volcanoes of Mamelles, in Dakar’s Ouakam arrondissement, with Cape Verde Shearwaters and Bottle-nosed Dolphins. The rocky coast of Dakar, forming the Cap Vert Important Bird Area, is an outstanding site for seabirds (photo: P. Robinson). Technopole and its numerous waders, herons, gulls, terns and other waterbirds (including Greater Flamingos when conditions are right) is one of the best sites for birds in the greater Dakar region (photos: B. Piot)